


Galatea

by charivari



Category: Original Work
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Captivity, Interspecies Relationship(s), Mermaids, Revisionist Fairy Tale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 00:46:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7553710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charivari/pseuds/charivari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tamar is thirteen when 'Galatea' arrives at her family home, a muir given as a betrothal present to her sister, Corinne. </p><p>Something of a re-imagining of The Little Mermaid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Galatea

I was thirteen when Galatea was delivered to us. A betrothal gift to my sister from her intended's family. I remember the moment Amber Godolphin's carriage-men drew up at the entrance of our manor, towing a tall box on wheels, covered by a velvet curtain. There was no need for such mystery of course, even I knew the identity of Amber's gift. But the son of the whaling tycoon was one for theatrics, a trait inherited from his father. 

Even so, despite knowing the gift in question was a muir, one bred from Lady Anne, the female Jolyon Godolphin had famously poached from the wild, I was unprepared for the sight once the velvet was cast aside. 

Galatea, though smaller in her juvenile state at the time, was an ethereal vision. Pale scales shining like white pearls, studded with bands of fiery orange, fins even paler, almost translucent gossamer, fanning about her strange aquatic body as she circled the confines of the tank, watching us with shrewd pink eyes. 

Her gaze seemed to fall on me and I stared back transfixed, quite unprepared for flash of carnivorous teeth as she shot out in our direction, only to crash against the glass. I hid behind my father's back, wary despite the barrier, as Galatea shook off her failed attack and resumed circling. 

My sister, Corinne, by contrast, showed no fear. Only revulsion as she approached the tank. She had no love for her fiancé, their soon-to-be union nothing more than a political arrangement, and the creature in the tank represented her inescapable future, as unhappy bride and wife.

"Ugly creature,"  she sneered at Galatea who struck once more against the glass. I flinched. My sister did not. "Stupid as well."

"Stupid or not she's worth a fortune," my father chastised.

There was greed in his eyes. Anger in my sister's.

"To you," she seethed, then stormed back into the house. 

I watched her depart, half-listening as my father instructed his men to wheel the tank into the menagerie. For the next week Corinne imprisoned herself in her room. Bereft of her company, I spent my days building the courage to visit Galatea on my own. I would linger by the door of the menagerie, opening it a crack, trying to glimpse the object of my curiosity and trepidation. 

Beyond the cages of exotic birds and primates, I was able to spy the orange banded ghost in her tank. Even at such a distance, I couldn't help notice the change in the way she swam, more listless than before, her occasional bumping against her tank more of a dull mournful thud. Though it inspired pity in my child's heart, I had neither the means nor the bravery to attempt to console her. Galatea was still a beast, all teeth and feral inclination. 

Then came the scandalous news, whispered between our household staff. 

One of the male servants had been found drowned in Galatea's tank. 

 

_To be continued..._


End file.
